Why?

I often get asked that question. I suppose it's valid, runners choose to participate in an activity that's seemingly the same boring, repetitive, grueling routine every single day with the long-term milestones being few and far between and the victories generally being only of personal significance unless you happen to be a world class athlete.

The question is simple enough, but the answer is not. It would be enough to say, "It's good exercise," and leave it at that; but, as runners know, there's more to it than that. Luckily, I've had ample time to contemplate this during my boring, repetitive, grueling morning routine! After much deliberation I've come up with a "Top 5" that I believe adequately summarizes what I find most gratifying about this practice.

Reason #1: Running is quantifiable.
It is a finite, accomplishable task I can complete every day. There's something very satisfying in doing something with a clear starting point and a clear finish. In any given day, even if nothing else is completed except my morning run, I feel like I've made some progress.

Reason #2: Running gives me a stretch of time each day to spend outside.
I spend so many hours sitting in an office, riding on a subway car or cooped up in a tiny little apartment that, even though I live in the concrete jungle, running still feels like being in nature. After converting from a treadmill runner to an outdoor runner, I now understand the simple joy in this and look forward to that time when the morning light is perfect and the streets of the city and the paths of Central Park are empty of the gaggles of tourists that are their norm and seem to be reserved solely for the runners of the city.

Reason #3: Running has made me part of a new community.
Through it, I've reconnected with old friends from high school, community theatre, and college and have had current friendships evolve. In addition to connecting with fellow runners, I've had the opportunity to reconnect with the people who so generously contributed to my fundraising campaign for this year's Colon Cancer Challenge 15k. Old friends, new friends, family and people I've never even met contributed a total of $2,612 to support colon cancer research, surpassing the $2,500 goal I had set and humbling me with their kindness.

Reason #4: Running has become my religion.
I am a Godless heathen, I was not baptized, I was raised in a household that can most accurately be defined as atheist and, as a religious minority in a predominantly Christian community, I always wondered what the appeal was in prescribing to a specific faith. Since I began running it has occurred to me that much of the appeal could lie in the ritual. There's a certain comfort to following a set of sacred routines that, in spite of conditions, are carried out in exactly the same manner each time they are performed. I am very much a creature of habit and I like knowing that tomorrow morning I will get out of bed, lace up my running shoes, tie up my hair, and join my fellow converts on the loop in Central Park.

And Reason #5: Running is honest.
Any number of things can happen between the moment you cross the starting line and the moment you cross the finish, but the truth is that the amount of effort and care you put into preparing for any given race is going to be clearly reflected in the time on the clock when you're done. There are no excuses to be made. The amount of miles you log per week, the cross-training you partake in, the time you spend studying the course map, and the food you eat to fuel your running are all factors that are going to impact your results. Make good choices and you'll end up running a gratifying race and maybe even setting a new personal record. Make poor choices and you may end up wasting five minutes of your race waiting in line at the Porta Potty, finishing with a 10k time of 54:47 and a personal worst pace of 8:50 m/m all because you just had to eat a gigantic bowl of delicious cole slaw two days before the race and didn't anticipate the ramifications of consuming that much roughage. Not that that specific scenario has played out for anyone I know, just a generic example of how lack of planning can lead to a disappointing race day.

So, that's it. That's what I can come up with as the best answer to "Why?" Why I plan to begin each day, regardless of where I may be or what I may be working on, with a run. Why I am going to continue on this path that hopefully will continue past the initial goal of the NYC Marathon to include other races in other places. And why I will continue to analyze, with agonizing detail, every aspect of my running to try to achieve my personal best. I've decided that I want to be a runner, so that's what I will be.

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows that it must outrun the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle, when the sun comes up you'd better be running." -Anonymous